East West Bancorp, Inc. (NASDAQ:EWBC) Short Interest Update

East West Bancorp, Inc. (NASDAQ:EWBC – Get Rating) was the recipient of a large drop in short interest in March. As of March 31st, there was short interest totalling 2,120,000 shares, a drop of 23.2% from the March 15th total of 2,760,000 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 0 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently ∞ days.

In other East West Bancorp news, Director Rudolph Estrada sold 1,111 shares of East West Bancorp stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $89.97, for a total transaction of $99,956.67. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, Director Jack C. Liu sold 1,600 shares of East West Bancorp stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $91.51, for a total value of $146,416.00. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.78% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. National Bank of Canada FI acquired a new stake in East West Bancorp in the 4th quarter worth about $35,000. Dixon Hughes Goodman Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in East West Bancorp in the 1st quarter worth about $40,000. Neo Ivy Capital Management acquired a new stake in East West Bancorp in the 4th quarter worth about $40,000. O Shaughnessy Asset Management LLC boosted its holdings in East West Bancorp by 266.2% in the 3rd quarter. O Shaughnessy Asset Management LLC now owns 520 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $40,000 after buying an additional 378 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Manchester Capital Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of East West Bancorp during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $52,000. Institutional investors own 89.55% of the company’s stock.

Separately, StockNews.com assumed coverage on East West Bancorp in a research report on Thursday, March 31st. They set a “hold” rating for the company. One research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $94.29.

Shares of NASDAQ EWBC traded up $3.04 during trading on Tuesday, reaching $78.08. 15,417 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,086,213. The company has a current ratio of 0.88, a quick ratio of 0.88 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.07. East West Bancorp has a 12-month low of $65.87 and a 12-month high of $93.51. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $81.59 and its 200 day simple moving average is $81.95. The stock has a market cap of $11.08 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.30, a PEG ratio of 1.10 and a beta of 1.59.

East West Bancorp (NASDAQ:EWBC – Get Rating) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 27th. The financial services provider reported $1.52 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the Thomson Reuters’ consensus estimate of $1.55 by ($0.03). East West Bancorp had a net margin of 45.83% and a return on equity of 15.62%. The business had revenue of $477.19 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $470.95 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $1.15 EPS. As a group, research analysts expect that East West Bancorp will post 6.81 EPS for the current year.

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, February 22nd. Investors of record on Monday, February 7th were issued a $0.40 dividend. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.05%. This is a boost from East West Bancorp’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.33. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 4th. East West Bancorp’s payout ratio is presently 26.23%.

About East West Bancorp (Get Rating)

East West Bancorp, Inc operates as the bank holding company for East West Bank that provides a range of personal and commercial banking services to businesses and individuals. It operates through three segments: Consumer and Business Banking, Commercial Banking, and Other. The company accepts various deposit products, such as personal and business checking and savings accounts, money market, and time deposits.

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